Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-04-29

| which came In conflict with A great many
lhlngr. ana was written by bad men or impos-
oln, now iong would such q book etandf IL
would be secuted by everybody. And I
tsy u that Bible had been an imposition
! II ~ hsd not been written by the men
VINO said they wrote tiff II had been
mere collection Of falseboods, do you not
suppose that II would have been Immediately
rejected by the pcoplef II JOB. and Isaiah.
and jeremiah. and Paul, and Peter, and John
were impostors, they would have been secuted
py generations and nations. II that Book has
come down through fires OF centuries without a
scar i Is because there IL nothing In II de-
struciible How near have they come 20 de-
stroyiDg the Bible7 When they began their
Opposition there were two or three thousand
copies OF 10. Now there are three hundred
millions, as far as / ran calculate.
These Bible truths, Notwithstanding all
the opposition. have gone into ali lan-
guages- into the philosophic Greek, the iiow-
ING Italian, The graceful German, the pas
sionate french, the picturesque Indian, and
The exbaustless ADRl0-Saxon. Under the
PAINTERS pencil the birth and tho crucinxion
and the resurrection glow on the walls OF
falaces; or under tho eugraver's knife speak
from the mantel OF tho mountain cabin; while
stones, touched by the sculptor's chiscl start
up into preaching apostles and ascending
martyrs. Now, do you not suppose II thai
foOk tad teen an imposition and falsehood,
itWoulG have gone down under these coa3elcss
fires Of opposition?
THE SCRIPTURES As MEDICINE.
Further. suppose that there was a great pes
thence going over the earth and hundreds OF
thousands Of men were dying OF that posii-
lcDce and some one should find medicine
that cured ten thousand people, would not
every body acknowledge that that-nr be
frSd medicine! Why, some one would say:
Do you deny it? There have been ten thou
sand people cured by H." | simply state tho
fact That there hive been hundreds OF thou
sands Of Christian men and women who say
they have felt the truthiulness Of thnt Book
and its power in their souls IL bGi cured
them Of the worst lcprosy that ever came down
cu our eartb-namely, the leprOsy Of SIN 4; ana
| if can point you 10 multiiudes who say they
have felt the power Of mat cure are you not
reasonable enough 20 acknowledge the fact that
there must be some power In the medicine?
" III you lake the evidence OF millions OF pa
tients who have been cured or will you take
The evidence ot he ekcpiic who stands aOOf ana
COZ fcssos that he never took the medicine7
Tie Bible intmatcs that there was city called
petis, built out Of solid rock. lnhdelity sconed
ht H. "MheIe is your city Of Petra y
RurkhOrdt and LatOrfc went forth In their
cxploratiOns. and they came upon that very
city. The mountains stand around Ike giants
guarding the tomb where the city Is buried.
They find a street in that city six miles long,
where once flashed imperial pOmp, and which
echoed with the laughter Of light-bearted
miTih on its way 20 the theatre. On temples
fashioned out Of col0red stones-some OF which
have blushed into the crimson OF the rose, and
some Of which have daIkened into the blue OF
the sky, and some Of them paled into the
whteness Ct the lily-GOd has written the truth
Of the Bible.
The Doctor here proceeded 20 show how the
explorations Of tho Dead Sea, OF Nincyeh, Of
EyIiihoH and other archaeological discoveries
confirmed the truth OF the Scriptures.
THE STYLE OF THE SCRIPTURES.
The Bible is the hive Of all sweetness. Il Is
the armOry Of all wcll-tempered weapons; tits
the tower containing the crown Jewels OF the
universe it is the lamp that kindles all other
lights; it is tho home OF al maiesties and
splcndors: IL the marriaRe-ring that tunites the
celestial ana the terrestrial, while all the cus
tering Whiic-rObcd dtnizens OF the SKY hover
ing around rejoice at the nuptials. This Book
u is the wreath into which are twisted
All garlands; il is the song into
which are struck all harmOnies; 10 is the
river into which are poured all the great tides
Of hallclujah: IL is the ornament in which
suns and moon, and stars, and consultations
and CalaXies. and immousities, and uniyerses,
and CxieTnities, Wheel and blaze, and triumph
Where is the young mass e0ul with any music
IN il that IS net stirred with jacobs lament, or
Nahum's dirge, or Habakkuk's dithyTambic, or
Pfuls march of the resurrection, or Johns an
them. where tie elders with dOxoOgy on their
faces respond 10 The trumpet blost OF the arch
angel as he stands, with one foot on the sea
and the other foot on the land, swearing by
II i'm that liveth forever and ever thatume snail
be no lOngerf
Iwin undertake 10 say that every great book
that las been published since tho first printing
tress was lifted has directly or indirectly de-
rived much Of its power from the sacred Oracles.
Goethe. the admired Of all skeptics, had the
wall Of his house at MCimar covered with
religious maps and pictures. MitOns " Para
disc Lost ~ part o. The Bible In blank verse
Tasso'a "Jorusalcm Delivered is borrowed
from the Bible. Sponsors writings are imita-
tons Of the parallels. John Buuyan saw in a
dream only what -. John had before seen In
Arocalyptic vision Mscaulay crowns bis
"a. urHNH LODI sfnHra
quOteuOns. Through Addison's "Specta-
tor" there glances in and out the
stream that broke from beneath the
throne of God. clear as crystal. Walter ScOuts
best characters are Bible men and women un-
der different names. Meg Merrilies the witch
Of Endor. Shakspoare's Indy Macbeth was
Jezebel HObtes stole from this Castle oI
Truth the weapons with which he afterward rs
saulted IL. Lord Byron caught the ruggedness
and majesty Of his style from the prophecies.
The writings OF Pope are saturated with Isaiah,
and he hnds his most successful theme In the
Messiah. The poets Thompson and johnson
dipped thoir pens in the style OF the iuspire1
OfisntsIs Thomas Carlyle Is only splendid
distortion Of Ezekiel. And wandering through
The lanes and parks Of this imperial domain Of
Bible truth, ] find all the great American. Eng
lsh. German. Spanish, Italian poets, painters
ora tors. and, rhetOricans.
CHRIsTIAsTTY AND ISFIDELITY COMPARED.
The speakers next point vas 70 show the
The Bible without giving any substitute Tor IT,
lie said
There stands Christianity. There stands In
fidelity. Compare what they have DONE Com
pare tbeir resources. There Is Christianity,
PRAYER on her lip. a benedictiOn on her brow.
ION hands full Of help for all who want help; ;
the mother Of thousands Of colleges; the mo-
ther OF thousands Of asylums for the oppress-
ed the blind, the sick. the lame, the imbectle; :;
the mother OF missions for the bringing back
Of the outcast; the mother OF thousands OF re-
forflaiory institutions for the saving 0fthe lost;
the mother Of innumerabe sabbath ecn0oiS
bringing millions Of children under dT1il 10
prepare them for respectabili;y and usefulness,
10 ray nothing Of the great future. That Is
Christianity.
Here Is Infdelity: no prayer on her lips, no
benedicfion on her brow, both hands clenched-
what for- To fight Christianity. That Is the
entire business. The complete miSalOn OF In
fidelity 10 fight Christianity. Whero are her
schools, her colleges, her asylums OF mercy!
Let me throw you down whole ream OF fools
CAP paper that you may ill all Of it with the
names Of her benedcent institutions, the col
leees and the asyluma, the institutions OF mercy
and Of learning, founded by lnhdelty, and sup
ported alone by lnhdelity, pronounced against
God and the Christian religion and yet ia
favor of making The world better. "Oh," you
say. "a feam OF paper Ia too much for
the names Of those institutions Wen, then,
] throw YOU Quire OF paper fin IL all up
now / will wait until you get all the names
Wen, then. | will Just hand you sheet Of letter
paper. just fill up the four sides while we are
talking of this matter with the names of the
merciful institutions and the educational in
stitutions founded by Infdelity and supported
oil along by Infidelity, pronounced against
God and the Christian religion, yet in favor oil
humanity. "Oh," you say, that is too
much room; we don't want whole
sheet OF paper % write down the names"
Perhaps | had better tear out one
eaffrOm my memOrandum-bOOk and ask you
TO nll up both sides Of IL with the names OF
euch institutions. "Oh.n you say, that would
be too much room; you wouldn't want 30 much
room as that" Well, then, suppose you count
them ON your ten fingers. "Oh," you
saw, mot qnite so much as that
Well, then. count them on the nngers
OF one hand. "Oh," you say, 1--WE don't
want quite 20 much room as that" Sup
pose. then, you halt and count on one nnger
The name Of any institution founded by In
fidelity, supported entirely by lnfidelity, pro-
pounced against God and the Christian re-
ligion, yet tOiling 10 make the world better.
Not one Not onel
Is lnfdelity 80 poor, 80 staryelling, so mean
so useless! Get out, you miserable pauper OF
the universe Crawl into some rat hole OF
everlasting nothingnessl lnhdelity standing
to-day amid the suffering, groaning, dying ma
tiOns, and yet doing absolutely nothing, save
trying 10 impede those who are toiling untli
they fall exhausted into their graves IN trying
10 make the world better. Gather up all the
work, all the merciful work, that Inndenty hns
ever done. add It all together. and there Is moi
an rnucb poIfIifv N IL a : In the smallest Deai